Mawlana

شربنا على ذكرِ الحبيبِ مدامةً
سَكِرْنا بها، من قبلِ أن يُخلق الكَرمُ
لها البدرُ كأسٌ وهيَ شمسٌ يديرها
هِلالٌ، وكم يبدو إذا مُزِجَتْ نَجمُ
ولولا شذاها ما اهتديتُ لحانها
ولو لا سناها ما تصوَّرها الوهمُ
ٍولم يُبْقِ مِنها الدَّهْرُ غيرَ حُشاشَة
كأنَّ خَفاها، في صُدورِ النُّهى كَتْمُ
ٍوفي سكرة ٍ منها ولو عمرَ ساعة
تَرى الدَّهْرَ عَبداً طائِعاً، ولَكَ الحُكْمُ
فلا عيشَ في الدُّنيا لمنْ عاشَ صاحياً
ومنْ لمْ يمتْ سكراً بها فاتهُ الحزمُ

[Translation:]

In memory of the Beloved
We drank a wine

With which we had been drunk
Before the creation of the vine

The full moon was its cup
While the wine was a sun passed round

By a crescent, which when mixed
How many stars appear!

Mawlana

If not for its fragrance
I would never have been guided to its tavern

If not for its radiance
Imagination could never picture it

Time preserved nothing of it, but a fading breath

As if its being hidden in the breasts of the wise were concealed

If you are drunk with it for but one hour

You will see time an obedient slave at your command

For there is no life in this world for one who lives sober

And one who dies not drunk from it
Resolution has passed him by